As of Tuesday evening, Air Force's game at Navy this Saturday has been grounded.

The Defense Department temporarily suspended sports competition at service academies Tuesday as a result of the budget impasse in Congress.

According to the Colorado Springs Gazette, Air Force is exploring the possibility of using non-government funds to save the sold out game at Navy, and a final decision will be made by Thursday morning.

The last government shutdown in 1995 lasted 21 days. With the Aztecs game in Colorado Springs scheduled for what would be the 10th day of the current shutdown, it's not unrealistic to worry about the status of their Oct. 10 Thursday night matchup in Colorado Springs.

The Air Force Academy has only officially halted travel for its sports teams, it hasn't canceled any home games, and Gazette reported Tuesday that Air Force hosted Notre Dame in football during the 1995 shutdown "with representatives from the Western Athletic Conference, Notre Dame and even Colorado State chipping in to assist with the game day activities."

According to the Gazette, "Setting that up again would be difficult, as virtually everyone on the administrative side of athletics is on the government-mandated leave." The Falcons' sports information staff, athletic director Hans Mueh and assistant football coach John Rudzinski are all on furlough until further notice.

The cadets are still allowed to practice this week because the athletic training and equipment staff was retained for safety purposes.

Aztecs coach Rocky Long said he encountered a similar situation on 9/11, when he was the head football coach at New Mexico and the Lobos game against New Mexico State that week was cancelled.

In the end, the game was rescheduled for the end of the season, and Long said that if the Aztecs game at Air Force is ultimately postponed, "I would imagine that would happen in our league too."

However, this would become a problem if the Aztecs or Falcons end up in the Mountain West's championship game scheduled for Dec. 7.

Long speculated that if that were the case, the league might consider moving the championship game back a week.

"There's nothing I can do about it," Long said. "That's way above my pay grade. We'll wait to see what they decide."

If the Falcons' game at Navy is not reinstated, and if next week's game against the Aztecs takes place as planned, the Falcons will go into that Thursday night showdown well-rested after a 12-day break.

The Aztecs, however, will be playing their third game in 13 days, which might put them at a disadvantage.